WRAL Newscasts
7PM News on WRAL - Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Every day, when you log in to Chumbakocino.com, the ultimate online social casino, you get a free daily bonus. Imagine if you got daily bonuses in other parts of your life. I chose French fries over loaded French fries. I asked Stewart from accounting about his weekend, even though I don't care. I updated my operating system without having to call tech support. Collect your free daily bonus at Chumbakocino.com now. And live the Chumba life. B-D-W group, no purchase necessary, fully regulated by law, in terms of conditions, 18 plus. A network outage from a cyber security incident hits the town of Apex, relies on how this impacts people who live here and the government services they use. Get ready for one of the hottest 4th of July's on record, where the heat tops out, and the two days we have the best chance to see storms. From Team USA's underdog, when tomorrow's fills roll in the sport, we go in depth on crickets growing popularity in America. Right now at seven, the town of Apex is experiencing a network outage over what they're calling a cyber security incident. It's on the radar of federal law enforcement agencies. Thanks for joining us tonight, I'm Ashley Rowe. - And I'm Dan Hagerty, and this is impacting electronic payments and applications for people who live there. You may have got to push alert about this just before five o'clock when we broke the story. - Since then, we've been pushing town leaders for more information about what happened. WRAL's Erin Thomas is live in Apex. Erin, unclear tonight how far reaching these impacts to be. - Yeah, and we continue to push these town leaders for answers. We want to find out if this cyber security attack is a ransomware attack by any means and what it means for the people who live here. Just within the past 30 minutes, I did get an email from Police Chief Jason Armstrong. He tells me that many of his officers, they're still patrolling the area, but inside this building, a lot of the employees are having to get some of their work done by hand, the old school way, if you will. Now, right now at seven, for anyone who visits the town of Apex's official website, they will see a message about a network outage affecting utility payments and e-permit services. So tonight I asked the town spokesperson to find out if any personal information from employees or people who live here was shared, and if this is a ransomware attack, we're still waiting to hear back on that front. Officials throw a statement and assure residents that all emergency services, such as fire and police services, are fully operational, but people who live here worry about the direct impact to them as taxpayers. - As a municipality, they have more resources than I myself would have, and so you would hope that they would have either manpower or something who would be over that, so that they can prevent that kind of stuff from happening. - Now, we did some digging in our WRL archives and back in 2020, we reported on cybersecurity attacks in both Rocky Mount and in Durham. So if you stay with us on our late news, beginning at 10 on Fox 50, we're gonna be speaking with a cybersecurity professional who has a background from the FBI. He explains why local governments are susceptible to these attacks. Aaron Thomas, WRL News, live in Apex. - Well, taking a look now at the White House right now where Democratic governors are meeting with President Biden, he's expected to address rumors that he is considering dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. The president and vice president told their staff they're staying in the race, but support for Biden within his own party appears to be shaky. Biden's performance during the debate last week raised questions about his cognitive ability to serve for more years. We asked all seven congressional Democrats if they believe the president is fit to run for re-election and if he should stay in the race. Only three said yes to both questions. Congresswoman Ross and Fushi and Congressman Wylie Nickel. - Do you think he should stay in the race? - I do because I think he needs to, his policies are good. He's fit for office right now. - Nickel conceded the debate has led to voters doubting Biden's fitness. Congressman Don Davis said the president, quote, "needs to step up." A spokesperson for Representative Alma Adams said she did not have enough information to comment. And Jackson and Manning did not respond to our questions. Look for updates out of tonight's meeting with Democratic governors on our late news at 10 and 11. - Disturbing new details released today. In the case of a woman accused of killing her two adopted children and concealing their deaths, Blake and London Devon had not been seen for years before their bodies were discovered. According to a arrest warrant, Avante Devon asked a family friend to impersonate one of the children during a social services visit. The warrant also notes the authorities found physical evidence of torture and abuse. There was also surveillance video showing Devon, who you see here, and two of her adopted children buying a red cooler, the one where police say London's remains were eventually stored. Police identified the man who was shot, who was killed in a shootout with officers at a Fayetteville apartment complex, the scene unfolding yesterday when officers were trying to serve a warrant for a first degree murder on Ivanhoe Court. Police say Shakur Williams barricaded himself inside the apartment for hours before exchanging gunfire with officers. He died at the hospital. Williams was wanted for the murder of Willie Russell on Seneca Drive back in May. Williams was also previously convicted in a 2009 murder. - Breaking in the last 20 minutes, an 18 year old died after being pulled from the water along our coast today. This happened at Nag's head. Two other swimmers made it to shore. A lifeguard pulled the third out of the water. That man died at the hospital. Just last night, a carbo man drowned while swimming in Jordan Lake. Chatham County officials identified the victim as Eduardo Martinez. Martinez was visiting the lake with family who saw him struggling in the water but they couldn't get to him in time. Cruz recovered his body late last night. This was the third drowning at the lake since May. Officials are urging people to follow these safety guidelines. Always swim in designated areas, use life jackets and other flotation devices. Supervised children closely. Be aware of water conditions and weather forecasts and follow all posted signs and regulations. - Taking a live look now outside at Carolina Beach tonight. It's going to be very hot from the coast to the triangle for your Fourth of July. We're also tracking the chance for storms in parts of our area tomorrow. Meteorologist Kat Campbell in the WRL Severe Weather Center with a timeline on both, Kat. - It's gonna be a hot one out there and I know that we need the rain but you probably don't want that rain to interrupt your fireworks. So let's take a look. 99, we actually bumped up our high temperature forecast tomorrow. This big heat dome, ridge of high pressure, centered right in this region with the excessive heat warning is shifting east and that's why temperatures are going up for the Fourth of July into the weekend. The good news is if you are headed to the pool tomorrow to celebrate the holiday, you're not likely to see any rain or storms during the day. We're already up to 90 by noon tomorrow. It's as we get into the evening, especially around dinner time and unfortunately especially around firework time that we could see a few storms. As early as five o'clock in our Northwestern counties, best storm chances are between six and nine o'clock and this would be from the triangle north where we have that chance to about a 30% chance so nothing widespread. And then as these storms try to push to the south, they really start to fizzle out. So I don't think anywhere south and east of Raleigh has a very high likelihood of seeing any rain and thunderstorms out there. We need the rain after all. We are in a drought, some areas in North Carolina. Now in a severe drought, I'll have a closer look at what you can expect from the heat index ahead. - All right, at 707, let's look at the roads here. Traffic is moving pretty freely here at I-48 Aviation Parkway. You know, if you are one of nearly 2 million North Carolinians driving to your Fourth of July destinations, we have some tips navigating that traffic for you. Triple A reports the best time to travel tomorrow is before noon and you might want to avoid being on the road between two and seven o'clock. Those are gonna be the busiest hours. On Friday, you'll have the best luck driving before 10 a.m. You'll have to maybe get up a little early. 11 until four will be the most congested that day heading into the weekend. Here's a look at the prices you'll see at the pump during the trip. According to Triple A, the state average is 331, up only slightly from a week ago in Raleigh is 336. It's below the national average, which is 351 today. For the lowest gas prices in the country, North Carolina ranks 14th. If you're heading south on your road trip, you can find lower prices in South Carolina. There's a tip for you. The average price there is eight cents cheaper than North Carolina. Durham police arrested 24 people over the last week as part of an effort to curb violent crime there. Most of the arrests were drug or gun related. Almost a dozen guns were taken off the streets. WRIO's Monica Casey spoke with police about why they say these types of arrests do have an impact on more serious violent crime. Durham police tell me, given the current staffing numbers, this was a big poll, bringing together people from many different units. The goal was to curb violent crime and send a message to the community that they're committed. Durham police have focused on three areas where violent crimes have happened recently. The Fayetteville Street Corridor, Cornwallis Road, and McDougall Terrace. Lieutenant Brad Fry tells me this was a proactive initiative with about 50 employees involved. So by directly getting these specific guns off the people walking around in the areas where the shooting is occurring is therefore nullifying the shootings. Do you believe any of it is gang related? I do. Two of the 24 people charged were under 18. Police say they were carrying concealed guns. Arrest warrants show many of the people charged with drug related offenses were in or near public parks, specifically Unity Village, Edgmont Park, and W.D. Hill Recreation Center. Speaking with community members after leaving scenes or arrests and stuff like that, we saw mostly support from the community. Most of the people that were arrested while they may be from Durham, they're not from the specific communities. And I don't believe that they're one of their. In Durham, Monica Casey, WRL News. Still ahead, many of you emailed us about the SpaceX satellite launch this morning. This was amazing. It was visible from all across the triangle. We're going to hear from an expert about why we could see this kind of rare occurrence. Plus, we're going to go in depth on crickets, growing popularity in America, and right here in the triangle. Coming up next. [MUSIC PLAYING] At Wake Med MyCare 365, we deliver convenience others only talk about every day of the year. Primary care and urgent care under one roof. Multiple locations, virtual visits, walk in or schedule an appointment online. From annual physicals and routine care to sinus infection strep or the flu, we couldn't be more convenient. Learn more about our kind of care at our kind of convenience at wakemed.org. OK, round two. 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Some actually think that the US win over Pakistan was one of the biggest ever. We'll go down as one of the most unlikely upsets in the history of sports, not just cricket, sports. Some journalist saying this, that it was as stunning as the miracle on ice. I really, really want you to understand how crazy this is. It would be like trying to think of a good analogy, like Japan beating us at football. Team Japan is off to the championship game at the IFAF 2024 World Junior Football Championships. Quick sidebar, did you know that Japan just beat the US in American football? They just, like, wiped the field with us, like, they crushed us. There was an international tournament. And Japan beat the US in American football 41 to 20. So if that can happen, why can't we be good at cricket? Because, Dan, we don't know the rules. We don't know how to score points, what a wicked is, or why they're dressed like Ben Affleck from Dazed and Confused wearing hockey pads. But don't worry, there's a local remedy. There's an easy way to learn. You just get in the car and drive to Morrisville. Because you may not know this, but it's one of the most important spots in the country for the growth of the game worldwide. They have a professional grade field, which is good. Because this weekend, there'll be one of two towns in America hosting Major League Cricket. Games actually start on Friday with teams representing New York, LA, Washington, Seattle, and San Francisco. And this isn't just a few days. The season lasts weeks with Morrisville at the center. Now, look, I get it. You're still like, I'm not sure if you really care that much. I mean, hearing that Spencer Johnson and Kiron Polard are coming to town, that might not mean much to you. But they are some of the most famous athletes in the world, playing one of the world's most popular and profitable sports. In fact, if you look at the media dollars per match, the Indian Premier League Cricket is number two, right behind the NFL. Not soccer, not basketball, not tennis, baseball, or golf, cricket. And it's coming to Morrisville with some momentum. Like I said, cricket is having a moment in the US. And it only took us, I don't know, like 273 years to show some real interest. Here's a clipping that details the earliest recorded match in our country in 1751, which is technically before it was even our country. But it said last afternoon, a match at Cricket was played on our common for a considerable wager. Three shillings in a six-pence for the rap scallions from New York. Is that a lot? How much is a six-pence? Cricket was a big deal here back then. Even George Washington played it. We were even part of the very first ever international cricket match in 1844 when the US played Canada. So what the heck happened? Why do we stop caring about cricket? Well, baseball happened. That sport took off after the Civil War. Baseball was an American thing. And during our own thing is kind of our thing. And while we were cheering on Cy Young and Candy Cummings, inventor of the curveball, the rest of the world stuck with cricket and soccer, which might be a really good comparison to use here. Why don't we look at soccer? You see, we didn't actually have a legit professional soccer league in this country until the '90s. And when the MLS started, it cost just $5 million to set up a new team. Chicago was one of those new teams back then. And today, that franchise is worth over $500 million, which is actually on the low end. LAFC is worth more than a billion dollars. So what might Morrisville look like in 30 years? Though to be fair, soccer versus cricket isn't the perfect comparison. Sure, when I was a kid, we didn't have pro soccer. But just about every high school did have a team. And that's not really the case with cricket. But it's starting. Morrisville has the Triangle Cricket League. They offer camps for players at all age levels. Core cricket and cricket drive are youth programs in the Raleigh area. They train kids. They host matches. They offer coaching. Wake County schools may not have cricket teams just yet. But at least one middle school does have a cricket club. Davis Drive Middle School offered one in the fall semester. So look, we might be a little late to the cricket party or more like out on a 200 year long beer run. But Team USA and Morrisville are trying to reel us back in. And give it some time. Who knows? This cricket in America thing might turn out to be a boundary six. That's cricket for home run. See, we're learning together. Tell me what you think. Does cricket have a shot at becoming popular in our area, in our country? Are you going to go to these MLC games in Morrisville this weekend? If you are, let me know. Tell me how it was. Send me a picture. Hit me up, send me an email, Dan, at WRAL.com. Tell me what's on your mind, and we'll go in depth. I love that Morrisville on the cutting edge. The intense heat is coming back this week. And Wake County wants people to have ample access to relief. So the county's cooling stations will be back open this Friday through next Monday. They include public libraries and regional health and human services centers. You can find a full list on the county's website. Let's take a live look at Hurricane Barrel's track. Still a category four storm and the southern coast of Jamaica is really experiencing some deteriorating conditions right now. Meteorologist Kat Campbell is on the WRAL weather patio tracking barrel and the intense heat for your holiday weekend, Kat. And they're actually connected to some degree because the high pressure system that's going to be sitting over top of us bringing us the intense heat is what's steering barrel to the west right now. For us, the big story, not the tropics, but the heat. So let's start there. It could be one of the hottest 4th of July's on record. 101 was the hottest ever back in 2012. We expect to be at 99 for the high tomorrow. So that would tie for the second hottest 4th of July on record if we hit that 99 degree high tomorrow. Of course, it's going to feel hotter than that with two points climbing back into the upper 60s at least. 103 in the triangle 105 in Fayetteville 101 in Roxborough is the heat index. It gets much worse Friday. 109 in the triangle. I am thinking we'll likely see a heat advisories issued on Friday. Bottom line here, the risk of heat exhaustion is going up Friday. You can see why with the heat index between 105 and 110. Make sure that you are taking care of yourself. I know a lot of people want to be outside and enjoying the holiday weekend. Try to take some breaks in the shade and the air conditioning. Make sure you've got plenty of water and sunscreen. We do have the potential for a few pop up storms tomorrow evening. Best chances are 6 to 9 o'clock. I know that's unfortunate given the time of the fireworks. Again, it is a 30% chance that we're not expecting them to be widespread, but there could be a few that move through areas from the triangle north. 89 today out in the triangle at this hour, 88 in Fayetteville. It feels pretty good out here on the W.R.L. Weather patio now, quite toasty in the sun earlier. We do have fireworks happening in our area tonight. We've got a great forecast. No rain around and wake forest gardener or Morrisville for tonight's fireworks. And just check out this W.R.L. Weather watcher video sent to be my one of my friends who was in Nag's head today with a drone. Check this out. The water just looking so peaceful there. Beautiful at the coast today. It should be a gorgeous week there. I think that they're going to be dry at the coast both tomorrow and Friday. There could be some storms by Saturday. But high temperatures tomorrow, mid 80s for most at the coast of upper 80s possible. Upper 80s to lower 90s again by Friday. It's going to get hotter as the week goes on. And that's the case here, too. 99 tomorrow, 100 Friday, 99 Saturday. But by Saturday and Sunday, our storm chances go up. That means we're going to have more storms on the radar each afternoon and evening. It's still not 100% chance. But you'll have some better opportunities for rain over the weekend. And that unsettled pattern should continue into next week. All right. Yeah, my lawn is looking brown. Oh, me too. All right, Kat, thank you. So did you see something flash in the sky this morning? A NASA scientist is explaining why the SpaceX launch in Florida was so visible here in our area. Come on. You slept through your alarm, missed the train, and your breakfast sandwich. Cool. Sounds like you could use some luck. I'm Victoria Cash. And Lucky Land is where people go every day to get lucky. At Lucky Land, you can play over 100 casino-style games for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Go to LuckyLandslots.com and get lucky today. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, Boyd, we're prohibited by law. 18-plus terms and conditions apply. Sometimes it's a good reminder that we live with nature. We are-- yeah, we are guests. We are guests. And there have been an increase in sightings of bears and carburel and officials-- they're warning people about this. Yeah, the police department took to Facebook listing available resources if you do see a bear. They didn't expand where or when these reports were called in. The state's division of wildlife says, do not feed them, lock up any food sources, secure any potential food sources. You also don't want to leave your pets outside overnight or unsupervised. 3, 2, 1, 0, lift up. Another batch of Starlink satellites now floating in space. Did you see it? Just before 5.30 this morning, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth as planned about eight minutes after liftoff, settling down on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Now this launch created quite the buzz from our viewers in the triangle all the way to PayPal. Well, so many people saw this, and they started reaching out to us. So a lot of WRAL viewers said, what am I seeing up there? What are these pictures of? Well, these kinds of launches happen often. This one was rare with how visible it was. Tony Rice with NASA says that we all saw it so clearly, simply because of the timing. The rocket launched while the sun was still down for us here. So it was still dark. And the sky was still dark. Because the rocket, though, was moving through the upper part of the atmosphere, the sun did illuminate it, so it made it look a lot clearer for us. Because this one occurred in the hour before sunset, time when it's nice and dark down here on the ground, and dark up in the sky. But up there where the rocket is moving through the upper parts of the atmosphere, 75, 100 miles up, the sun is still able to illuminate it. The launch this morning, it's going to be a couple of days. But if you look Friday up into the sky tomorrow and Friday, you might be able to see a string of lights kind of moving across the sky. Yeah, I want to take a look. It's very cool. Thanks for making WRAL your choice for local news. You know, Fox 50 at 10 o'clock and back here on RAL at 11. [MUSIC PLAYING] Keep watching WRAL News over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. It is Ryan Seacrest here. There was a recent social media trend, which consisted of flying on a plane with no music, no movies, no entertainment. But a better trend would be going to chumbacocino.com. It's like having a mini social casino in your pocket. 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